Tag: Shawls and Wraps

Has anyone seen May? No? Me either…. where did it go? I thought it was around here, but suddenly it’s just disappeared!

I had every intention to blog during May. Seems that the month just got away with me and things have been busier then usual with school, though school plus work are the new “usual” for me these days. Spring term has just 5 school days left for me (term ends June 18th) and I’ve already registered for summer term. It’ll be tough considering it’s only 6 weeks with 10 weeks worth of material crammed into a shorter amount of time. It’ll be interesting to say the least!

Per the usual, despite the lack of blogging, there has not been a lack of knitting. I even finished something last month!

The current KAL going on for SSK (which ends today) is to knit something designed or inspired by one of the hosts (Laura, Leslie, and Carin). I chose to double dip and knit LaLa’s Simple Shawl both for the SSK KAL and the KAL in LaLa’s group, LaLa Knits. The photographs don’t show it well (and two of them are from my iPhone, sorry!), but there’s sparkle in the yarn! I think it turned out great. 🙂

LaLa’s Simple Shawl

Pattern:LaLa’s Simple Shawl by Laura Linneman (My Ravelry project page.)Started: April 20, 2012Completed: May 10, 2012Yarn: Another Crafty Girl Twinkle Sock in Lagoon, 1 skeinNeedle: US 6, Signature CircularNotes: I was able to knit a total of 5 pattern repeats. Very easy and well written pattern. Easy to make larger or smaller. I used a fingering weight yarn and smaller needles, which made it into more of a shawlette.

LaLa’s Simple Shawl

LaLa’s Simple Shawl – Worn

I’m still working on Thin Ice out of Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga! in the Leafy Seadragon colorway. Not a lot of progress lately, but here’s a much better picture of it.

Thin Ice

I’ve made a bit of progress on Magrathea, which I’m using handspun for.

Handspun Magrathea

After receiving some new yarn, my fingers were itching to get it cast on, so I decided to get a head start on Christmas knitting and started the Foreign Correspondent’s Scarf (free pattern on Ravelry) out of Cephalopod Yarns Nautilace in the Rainbow Trout colorway.

Foreign Correspondent’s Scarf

I frogged the stripey Jaywalker socks because they were coming out too tight. Need to go up another needle size, I think to US 1.5, for those. For now, they’re frogged and the yarn is wound back onto it’s cake.

I knit to the leg of the second of the Bonnie and Clyde stripey socks, but then found it to be too tight. This was after knitting the heel nearly 3 times because the stripes weren’t lining up right! Turns out my gauge on the second sock had changed. Guess I was doing a little too much pulling on my yarn as I knit. Oops. Frogged the whole sock and it’s in time out utnil I figure out what I want to do. I think I’ll likely go up a needle size for the second sock and hope that fixes the gauge issue.

Since I frogged that sock and the Jaywalker sock, I had no socks on the needles! GASP! I needed something more portable and less complicated then anything else on the needles, so I started a new sock. I decided on the Georgia on my Mind pattern (free pattern on Ravelry) and pulled out the SweetGeorgia Yarn in Hard Candy that I had. Great pairing, right? Not so much. The yarn at 64 stiches was striping for me and I ultimately decided I didn’t like it, so I frogged it and will be knitting something else with it soon enough.

Georgia on my Mind pre frogging

So, I’m back to no socks on the needles! I figure Summer of Socks will be starting at the end of the month and I’ll cast on for a new pair then. In the mean time I’m focusing on my other WIPs. In fact, I’ve started back on a WIP that I was thinking I was going to frog – the Rocky Coast Cardigan.

I was going to frog this one because the skeins are not well matched. Ah, Malabrigo. How I love your softness, but dislike your non-matchy skeins. I think it’s getting better, but I got these on sale and while they all looked very similar and well matched when in the skeins, after I started knitting, I found that they were rather different from one another. Since I didn’t start out alternating skeins (because frankly I just don’t like to do that), I figured I had a few options: frog the whole thing and use it for something else, keep knitting despite the rather drastic and obvious changes in color and just live with it like that, or frog it all and over dye it to even things out, frog it and alternate between 3 skeins (I have 3 sets that match, so this would be the best way to even things out). I didn’t really like ANY of these options, but out of those, I thought frogging and using it for something else might be best. After that, I put it in the bag and set it aside until I could decided what it’s fate would be.

Then, as I was going through all my WIPs that are hibernating, I thought “What if I finish it, THEN dye it?” I hadn’t considered this option before and I’m still not sold on doing that, but I am working on the sweater again and ignoring the fact that the skeins aren’t all that well matched. Here is a terrible picture of the current state of it.

I’ve finished the body and currently working on the collar. The color is not quite as bright as the photo suggests, but red is such a hard color to photograph, especially with my phone! Once I get finished with the collar, I just have the sleeves left. Shouldn’t take too long. After that, I plan on having my friend Karen dye up some of the leftover yarn (will probably swatch it first and have that dyed) to see if I want to dye it or not.

Next post, I’ll show you all some of the spinning I’m doing and talk a bit about my goal for Tour de Fleece which is coming up at the end of June.

I can’t believe it’s the end of April already. It feels like it’s been longer and shorter then that since I last blogged early in the month. Two weeks ago I started taking two college courses in addition to working full time. Needless to say, that leaves me very little time to do much else aside from work, school, homework, and whatever household and family responsibilities I have to fit in in-beween those first three. I feel exhausted just talking about it!

I feel like I’ve started and abandoned (frogged) and set aside a bunch of knitting projects in that time, but I’m fairly certain it’s not that many. It’s just my brain playing tricks on me, I’m sure! Hmmm, lets see. *goes back and looks at previous posts to see where she left off*

I did spin up the bright colored Masham from BohoKnitterChic I mentioned my last post. Turns out I’m allergic to it. QUITE allergic, in fact. Yesterday I tried to photograph it and it made my throat feel very itchy until well after I put it in a ziplock bag! While I was spinning it, it made my throat feel itchy and swollen, which is the same reaction I’ve had to some of the more coarse and sheepy wools I’ve tried to knit with in the past (which I ended up giving away because there is plenty of other yarn that DOESN’T make me react that way). Needless to say it has to find a new home with someone else who isn’t allergic to it and The Sheep’s Company Masham will be finding a new home with a local friend of mine as soon as I can remember to give it to her. The Expand Your Spinning Horizons is definitely doing it’s job. Masham is a hairy and corse fiber. It was actually rather nice to spin up aside from the bad reaction I had to it. I’ll post a picture of the finished yarn when I get one. I like how it ended up just as bright as the fiber pre-spinning! Sad I’m allergic to it because I think it would make a great outerwear item. Ah well. I’ve had a new experience I likely wouldn’t have ever had thanks to this spin-a-long.

As for knitting… I managed to get one FO for the month of April! A pair of socks. 😀 I knit these as part of the Solid Socks KAL (colorway: yellow) and Sock Knitters Anonymous KAL (literary themed) for the month of April. This is the first sock group specific KAL I’ve finished in a while! Knitting with yellow was definitely out of my comfort zone. I can’t actually recall anything that I’ve knit in yellow, ever. It’s not a color that I wear much, if ever, so it was fun to knit something I wouldn’t normally knit.

Nemesis Socks

Pattern:Nemesis by Susan Dittrich (My Ravelry project page.)Started: April 2, 2012Completed: April 28, 2012Yarn: The Copper Corgi Studio Fingering in the colorway Mac & Cheese, 2 skeinsNeedle: US 1 (2.25mm) Knit Picks circularNotes: When I started the foot of the sock after knitting the heel flap and picking up stitches, I misread the instructions and left out part of the chart on either side of the main pattern. When I got to the toe, I realized it wouldn’t line up to continue the patterning on the toe as instructed, so instead I knit a plain toe and did the second sock to match the mistakes in the first sock. Ah well, I still like how they came out!

I’ve been working on a number of different projects. I appologise in advance for having mostly iPhone pictures for this part of the post, but I figured if I waited until I got around to taking better pictures with my DSLR, most of these would be FOs and I wouldn’t have even talked about them here yet! (Much like the Nemesis socks above. Oops.) I have four shawls and two pairs of socks in progress. Some of them are now “hibernating” on Ravelry since I tend to only focus on 2-3 projects at a time.

Back in March, I cast on for TVG. I’m using Malabrigo Rios in Archangel. I haven’t made a whole lot of progress and it’s been hibernating since shortly after starting it, but it makes for a nice “mindless” project to pick up whenever.

TVG

The first week of April, I decided to cast on a shawl. I’d been itching to use some of the Cephalopod Yarns I’d purchased earlier in the year, so I cast on for Thin Ice. I’m using Skinny Bugga! in Leafy Seadragon. Here’s a picture of the yarn so you can get a better idea of the beautiful colors in this yarn since my iPhone picture really, really doesn’t show the colors well!

Cephalopod Yarns Skinny Bugga! in Leafy Seadragon

I’m working on the 5th stockinette section right now. I’ve been picking it up every so often and knitting a row or two on it. I think this is going to be a great shawl once it’s finished. This is really lovely yarn to work with! It’s been quite a while since I last worked with Bugga!, but man is it nice. 🙂

Thin Ice

That same first week in April, I cast on for another shawl. I must have had a bad case of startitus that week! The pattern is Magrathea and I’m using handspun. The fiber is from Zarzueal’s Fibers (Etsy & Artfire). The fiber is targhee and the colorway is Emeralds. This stuff is super squishy and very nice to knit with. I can’t wait to have this one done! It’s going to be great to wear, plus this pattern will allow me to use up as much yarn as possible. A better picture of the color can be found here – it’s the two on the right side. It’s not quite as “warm” as this picture makes it seem.

Magrathea

On April 21st, I finished the first Bonnie and Clyde sock. (Bad Amy 80/20 Stripey Sock in the Bonnie and Clyde colorway) These are hibernating for now. Needed the needles to start another sock with just a bit more patterning then plain vanilla.

Bonnie and Clyde Sock #1

The details of the SSK KAL #5 were announced on April 19th and I cast on shortly after that. I knew before the details were posted that the KAL would be featuring at least Laura (aka LaLa) of The Knit Girllls since she had mentioned it in her Ravelry group, LaLa Knits. Since there’s also a KAL going on in that group, I’m double dipping with this next shawl and knitting LaLa’s Simple Shawl. I’m using Another Crafty Girl Twinkle Sock in the Lagoon colorway. Sparkly! Pretty easy pattern which makes it easy for me to pick up and knit.

LaLa’s Simple Shawl

And last, but not least, here are the Jaywalker socks I started this weekend (the socks I needed my US 0’s for – for the cuff). I’m using Bad Amy Splendid Sock (MCN) in Violeta Stripe (brown & purple). Mmmmm MCN. I think I love MCN yarns, though I don’t knit with them nearly enough. Very nice to work with and I’m loving the stripes in this pattern. A lot more fun then just plain vanilla!

Jaywalker Socks

I think that sums up my April for knitting and spinning progress. We’ll talk about my stash “progress” another time. 😉 What fun things have you been working on lately?

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2012 is treating you well so far.

I have one last FO for 2011. I finished this up on New Years Eve. I blocked it right away so it would be dry and I could take pictures before gifting it to the intended recipient (a coworker) January 2nd. This is really a Christmas gift even though I didn’t get it started until AFTER Christmas. I think it worked out okay since the recipient was on vacation prior to Christmas and I had it finished before she returned from vacation. 🙂 I hope she likes it!

Dover Castle Shawl

Pattern:Dover Castle Shawl by Judy Marples (My Ravelry project page.)Started: December 26, 2011Completed: December 31, 2011Yarn: sKnitches Cinema Sock Club, MCN in Everybody Knows (410 yards)Needle: US 6 circularNotes: I did 10 repeats of Chart A and one full repeat of Chart B. This was a great quick knit and allowed me to use the full skein of yarn with just a small amount left over. The pattern repeats were easy to memorize and I hardly had to look at the chart after the first two repeats. This is one I’ll be making again so I have one of my own!

Dover Castle – Close Up

With that last FO completed, I have a total of 35 projects that I finished in 2011. Here’s the breakdown:

In 2011 I think my only knitting related goal that I had was to knit 12 sweaters, but that was abandoned when I started losing weight (on purpose). I can’t find where I really posted any other goals for 2011. The sweaters didn’t work out as planned, but the weight loss has been going well, as has the eating healthier overall, and exercising regularly to keep my back healthy. Those weren’t really goals I talked about here or goals that I set out to make happen when 2011 started. Really happy with how far I’ve come with those goals, though! 🙂

For 2012, my goals are a little different. Not so project-type-focused. My main goal is work on reducing stash which means knitting projects from stash unless it’s gift knitting and I don’t have something suitable. I’ve joined a few groups on Ravelry to help keep me on track, but I’ll post a bit more about the specifics later. Do you have any knitting/crocheting/spinning related goals this year? Speaking of spinning, I really need to do that more. Maybe I’ll plan to spin an hour a week and see how that goes.

My starting stash total is 95,455.2 yards (54.23 miles). Each month I plan to post a little update here.

It’s hard to not cast on EVERYTHING right now, especially with having a number of projects ready to go. I did finish up one WIP that was left over from 2011 and I’ve started two new projects from stash. Now that I’ve finally taken pictures of all my current and finished projects, I’ll be updating on those in a post later this week (I know I promised it last week, but well the week just got away from me!).

I know a lot of folks had a tough 2011. I had my own ups and downs as well, though I know many had a much more difficult year then I did. Here’s hoping that 2012 is a lot better then 2011!

It’s nearly the end of October and I haven’t shared much of what I’ve been working on. Despite that, I have THREE finished objects to share today! Even when blogging doesn’t happen, I’m always busy working on something. 😉

The first FO is the hat that was such a hit at Rhinebeck this year. I don’t know if I even mentioned that I was working on this one! I got quite a few compliments on it! I love the way it turned out. Next I’ll need to figure out a red bird version for Matt!

Angry Birds Green Pig Hat

Pattern: Green Pig Beanie by knitterbees (My Ravelry project page.)Started: September 25, 2011Completed: October 10, 2011Yarn: Various acrylics listed on my Ravelry project pageNeedle: US 3 bamboo circular and DPNsNotes: This pattern is no longer available, but I wanted this hat! I used Jared Flood’s free hat pattern Turn a Square as the base and followed the instructions for knitterbees Green Pig Plush Toy for the eyes, nose, ears, and crown. Took a little trial and error to get it just right, but I’m really happy with how it turned out!

Next up is a shawlette that I knit in the week before Rhinebeck. Someone *cough*Andrea*cough* decided to knit one and talked me into knitting one, too. It knit up pretty quickly and I finished it just in time to wear to Rhinebeck unblocked. The yarn I used, Handmaiden Casbah, was great to work with. The pattern, Maluka, is a free one that can be found on Ravelry.

Maluka

Pattern:Maluka (My Ravelry project page.)Started: October 8, 2011Completed: October 13, 2011Yarn: Handmaiden Casbah, just under 1 skeinNeedle: US 6 Knit Picks Harmony circularNotes: I made two modifications to the pattern: instead of decrease short rows, I did wrap and turn short rows and instead of the garter stitch edge, I did an i-cord bind off.

Maluka – Edging Detail

The last FO I have to share are the Grove mittens I started a while back. These started out pretty roughly, but I’m happy to say I like the finished mittens. The first yarn I chose didn’t work out (too thin), then they weren’t very portable because I had a hard time getting the hang of the chart, then I finished one mitten only to find I’d missed the 4th row, a knit row, which threw the design off and made the right mitten look different. I would have just matched the right mitten to the left one, but I didn’t like the way it looked with two garter ridges on the top of the cuff pattern and only one below it. After starting the right mitten, knitting it correctly, and noticing my error, I decided I would re-knit the left mitten after finishing the right one. Much happier that way! I’m glad I have a new pair of mittens waiting to be broken in when it gets cold out here.

Grove Mittens

Pattern: Grove by Jared Flood (My Ravelry project page.)Started: October 7, 2011Completed: October 21, 2011Yarn: Berroco Vintage Chunky, color 6175, 2 skeinsNeedle: US 6 Banboo DPNsNotes:Start and finish dates are based on when I started the right mitten since I didn’t keep the first left mitten I knit. Made no modifications to the pattern. It would be easy to lengthen or shorten these by adding or removing the pattern repeats.

Grove Mittens – Palm

Despite these FO’s, I still have quite a few things on the needles. I suppose that’s how it always goes with knitting… well at least for those of us that aren’t monogamous knitters! Even with all the things I’m working on, I want to cast on more things. I’m hoping I can resist casting anything else on until I finish up at least 2 more things I’m working on. Maybe it’s that time of year. Fall is definitely here in Southwestern Ohio and I’m itching to make sweaters and other warm things.

Ever get that urge when the fall months hit that you want to cast on more things? What’s next on your list to knit or crochet?

It’s been a while since I shared all of my current projects and since I recently cast on some new things, I figure it’s time to share what I have on the needles today.

Sometime at the end of August or early September, I decided I needed to have a plain vanilla pair of socks on the needles. I have enough stripey yarn that I could probably have a pair of striped socks on the needles for at least a year or two! I pulled out a skein of Vesper self striping yarn in Venus in Furs. This is a colorway I traded with Jen (of the Piddleloop Sewing Team) for. I don’t know if my knitting changed or what, but for some reason my normal 64 stitch sock was way too big. Then, I went down to a US 0 made, but the fabric I was getting was a bit too tight and the sock (66 stitches) was too big. After a number of failed attempts at getting these socks going, around mid-September I finally re-started these with a stitch count that worked (60 stitches). I’m past the heel and halfway through the leg on the first sock. Behind the sock, you’ll see one of my bags from Jen. I love the fabric and it’s just the right size for a sock project!

The pattern from Knitty caught my eye was Ambroso. I had a skein of Cascade 220 Superwash on hand that I’d been trying to find a pattern that suited it. Yesterday I spent a lot of time working on the decreases on the top of the hand portion, but after working it as written twice and trying to adjust it twice, I’m just not happy with how it’s turning out. The decrease section on the outer part of the mitten tends to shift itself almost to the center of the backside of my hand. Personally, I’m not at all a fan of how this looks. In looking at the pictures on the pattern page, I do notice this issue. I guess I didn’t think much of it when I started knitting them. After some thought on what to do since I couldn’t straighten it out, I’ve deiced to make these into fingerless gloves instead! I’ll knit ribbing around the thumb and hand to match the cuff.

Ambroso Mittens

The pattern from Brooklyn Tweed that caught my eye was Ashby. As the weather has turned a little cooler, I’ve found myself wanting something light that I could wear and easily take off. A non-lace shawl made from a warm fiber was just what I needed. I picked up some Ultra Alpaca and started it this past weekend. I like the construction of it. You knit the edge first, then pick up the stitches from the edge and knit the shawl from there. It avoids the problem of having 400+ stitches when you get to the bottom of the shawl! The color of the yarn is a little lighter in person then the photo shows.

Ashby

For a while now I’ve wanted to make a pair of Embossed Leaves socks. I also wanted to use up this very fall colored yarn I got from the Loopy Ewe Sock Club last year. The yarn is Alchemy Juniper in Autumn Ecstasy. I’ve not used this sock yarn before and at first I wasn’t fond of the colors, but it seems to have grown on me and has been demanding that I make it into some nice fall socks. When I saw another pair of Embossed Leaves out of this very colorway, I knew I needed to finally knit this pattern. So far I’m enjoying both the yarn and the pattern. The yarn reminds me a bit of Fiesta Baby Boom. Looks kind of fluffy in the skein, yet isn’t as fluffy when you wind it at work with it, but makes a really nice fabric.

Embossed Leaves Socks

Despite casting on three new projects, I can’t shake the urge to cast on more things! I’ve noticed some other folks feeling the same way. Maybe it’s just the time of year. The weather has started to cool for many of us. For many knitters and crocheters, we start to think of all the warm, wooly things to knit and wear during the cooler months. I’ve already got my eye on at least one pair of fingerless gloves, a scarf, a hat, and a few pairs of socks. I won’t even talk about all the things in my queue!

Have you started any projects recently? Is anything calling to you to start right now? Any new patterns come out recently that you just can’t resist?

I feel like I have a lot more WIPs then I usually do. I currently have 7 things on the needles and will be starting another project Monday (Westknits Mystery KAL!). SEVEN WIPs! I usually like to keep it to 4 or less, but… well… I’ve been a joiner of things lately and it’s keeping my WIP count higher then usual.

Three of my WIPs are more like long term projects. Things that I work on occasionally, but don’t really get the majority of my knitting/crocheting time.

The first is Matt’s Scarf, which I started in 2009. I should take a better picture of it, but as a 1×1 ribbed scarf with two colors, it’s not really that interesting to see the progress as it gets longer! It has seen quite a bit of progress, though, and it’s a great project to work on while TV or movie watching when I don’t want to pay much attention to my project.

The second of my long term projects is the High Seas Shawl. I love how this is coming along, but with patterning on both right and wrong side rows, it’s a little slow going and it doesn’t make the best social or TV knitting. Right now it’s been set aside for other projects.

High Seas Shawl

The third of my long term projects is the Spring Ripples Scarf. About two weeks ago now, I had to rip out all the progress I’d made because the gauge had changed from when I started to where I was. It was really obvious that even blocking wouldn’t save it. Ripped it all out, started over, and now I’ve worked back to where I was plus a little more. I like it better with the looser gauge I’m getting now then when I first started it.

Spring Ripples Scarf

I think of short term projects as things that keep my attention that I want to work on it constantly. Long term projects are things that mindless (plain sock, a scarf) or something complicated that takes a lot of brain power. I enjoy knitting these types of long term projects, but usually they aren’t holding my attention so much that I only want to work on it the way the short term projects do. I usually keep at least one long term project on the needles and it’s often something I consider mindless that doesn’t require me to look at it much. Those kind of projects also make for great social knitting or crocheting and since I often find myself knitting in public with non-knitters, these are great to have.

Do you have long term and short term projects that you work on? What sort of things are short and long term projects for you?

It’s Monday and the 4th of July holiday for those of us in the United States. It’s been yet another busy weekend and holiday, but I took some time to take photos of some recent finished items.

First are the Gush Mystery socks that I finished about a week ago. These are also the first socks I’ve finished for Summer of Socks!

Gush Mystery Socks

Pattern:Gush Mystery Socks by Yarnissima (My Ravelry project page.)Started: June 1, 2011Completed: June 28, 2011Yarn: Wollmeise 80/20 Twin in WD PistazieNeedles: US 1 (2.25mm) Knit Picks CircularNotes: Only made one change. I needed to add some extra rows to get the proper length and adjust for my gauge difference. Instead of doing that where the pattern stated, I added those rows before I started the patterning. I like the way this works a LOT better then adding those rows where the pattern states to. Other then that, I followed the pattern. This is the second pair of mystery socks I’ve knit and I’m happy with how they turned out.

Gush Socks – Foot Detail

Gush Socks – Heel Detail

Second, I have my first Camp Loopy project done!

Clockwork

Pattern:Clockwork by Stephen West (My Ravelry project page.)Started: June 15, 2011Completed: July 2, 2011Yarn: MadelineTosh Pashmina in Oak (just over 1 skein) and Dahlia (about 2/3 of a skein)Needles: US 5, 32″ stainless steel circularNotes: Followed pattern as written except for the bind off. Working the bind off as written for me made it too tight, so I did the JSSBO bind off instead.

Clockwork worn as a wrap

Not much of an update, since I’ve got tons of other things I’m working on and this year’s Tour de Fleece just started, but I plan to share those with you soon! Hope those who are celebrating the holiday are having a good one and that those who aren’t have had a great weekend. 🙂

Oh, hey, I’ve got an FO to share! I was thinking I had already posted this, but it seems that it’s been over a week since I last posted and I hadn’t yet taken pictures of my finished Dahlia Cowl. Time sure has been getting away from me lately!

I love the colors of this cowl and it’ll be nice to wear come fall and winter. I have some other handspun that I might make into a scarf using this pattern (just adding more length and no buttons). I haven’t done it much, but I really do enjoy knitting with my handspun and need to do it more often!

Dahlia Cowl

Pattern:Dahlia Cowl by Jessamyn Leib (My Ravelry project page.)Started: June 4, 2011 (started spinning)Completed: June 11, 2011 (finished knitting)Fiber: Zarzuela’s Fibers Hand Dyed Polworth in DahliaYarn: 95 yards of 2-ply handspun from above fiber (8 WPI)Needles: US 10.5 bamboo straightsNotes: Followed pattern as written. Very easy to follow and memorize once I got going. With the bulkier yarn I spun, I used a larger needle and was still able to get 24″ in length out of it with some yarn left over. It’s super squishy and soft!

Dahlia Cowl – Flat

I managed to make it through the second clue on both Gush socks shortly after the third clue came out.

Gush – Clue 2

Gush – Clue 2You can see the pattern more “open” in this picture

The third clue was a lot shorter then the second and within about a day of knitting, I was through it on both socks.

Gush – Clue 3

The forth and final clue came out yesterday. I’m roughly halfway through it on the first sock and hoping I can get these socks finished this weekend. It’s not the most portable project because of the chart, though I think I’ll definitely get them finished before the month is over.

My Camp Loopy project, Clockwork, has seen a lot of progress. Here it is on the first day of camp (June 15th).

Clockwork on the first day of camp!

Color is more accurate in the above photo, but here’s my current progress (taken with my phone camera).

Clockwork Currently

I’m two repeats into the second section. The rows are pretty long, so they take a while, but I think I’ll be finished with it soon enough. I have to say that I really like knitting with the MadeleineTosh Pashmina. It’s so soft! This will make a great shawl once it’s finished.

This week, Summer of Socks started! I had grand plans to cast on for the first featured sock pattern – Summer Spirals – on Tuesday, June 21st. Turns out the yarn I first wanted to use wasn’t going to work with the pattern and the pattern’s stitch counts. It was too small and going up a size would have made them too big. Frogged. Tried three other yarns and all had the same issue. Too big and if I went down a size, too small (twice) or too small and if I went up a size, too big (twice). I did the only thing I could think of: threw the pattern, yarn and needles in a corner to think about all they’ve done wrong!! Hahaha! Kidding! I set it all aside and decided I’d come back to it after finishing up the Gush socks. 😉

Are you participating in Summer of Socks this year? If so, what patterns are you going to knit? I have a few in mind, but like usual when it comes to socks, I’ll decide on the next pair once I get a pair finished. I’d like to get Maelstrom #2 done, so long as it doesn’t bother my hands again! (Speaking of which, things are back to normal knitting for me. Yay! 🙂 )

I finally have pictures to show of my Elektra shawl, which I finished back in April, right before our cruise the first week in May. I absolutely love how this shawl turned out, despite running out of yarn and having to finish the bind off with a thinner and darker version of the yarn. The beads in the pictures are true to color, but I couldn’t get the Fuchsia color just right in any of the photos. It’s a bit darker in person.

Eketra

Pattern:Elektra by Rosemary Hill (My Ravelry project page.)Started: April 7, 2011Completed: April 28, 2011Yarn: Wollmeise 100% (609 yards) and a little bit of Wollmeise Lace (17.5 yards) in FuchsiaNeedles: US 5 Addi Lace circularNotes: Pattern was pretty easy to follow once I got past the start of Chart B where the marker placement is only listed in the written instructions. Despite getting a smaller gauge then stated in the pattern, I still ran out of yarn, so I would suggest anyone knitting it have at least 630 yards of yarn and be sure to check gauge! Placing the beads wasn’t too bad until the bind off row where you place beads AND work the bind off. I did end up missing to place a bead, which I noticed after it was blocked, but I managed to sew one where it should have been without it looking weird. I love how it turned out and it looked great with my dress on the cruise in May. 🙂

Eketra – Full Size

Eketra – Back

Eketra – Detail

This weekend, I spent quite a bit of time in my craft room getting it clean and more organized. I wish I had some before and after photos! I cleaned out this plastic 3-drawer thing that has been through many moves with me (and that I’ve hated for the longest time, mostly because it was full of heavy things which made it hard to open or close) and moved everything worth keeping into the 3-drawer chest I bought from IKEA a while back. There wasn’t a whole lot worth keeping. Most of it was things that should be tossed or go in the Goodwill box. I took 3 bags of trash out and a box of things to go to Goodwill the next time I go. I think it still needs a little work to be how I’d like it to be, but first I need a bigger shelf, so that’ll have to wait. Only thing left to do is put up the blinds in there.

While cleaning, I found my Namaste bags (a Newport and a Zuma) and a buddy case. I decided it’s time to let my Namaste bags go to a new home since I will never use them. They just aren’t the right knitting/purse type bag for me. You can see pictures here. They’re also listed in my stash on Ravelry on my sell/trade page, with info. Leave a comment, email me, or PM me on Ravelry if you’re interested in them.

I also found the scarf I started for Matt back in 2009 during the cleaning of the craft room. It’s got to be my oldest WIP! This sucker needs to get finished, so I’ve pulled it out to work on. I plan to get it finished before it’s cool enough for him to wear this winter.

Matt’s Scarf

Despite all the cleaning I did, I got in a fair amount of knitting time, too. I started and finished the Dahlia Cowl out of my handspun on Saturday. It’s currently blocking and waiting for buttons. I didn’t run out of yarn! Not sure I got gauge since I didn’t check, but I had a little left over from my skein after knitting it to the 24″ the pattern says to. Hopefully it’ll be dry today and I can finish it up by adding the two buttons. It’s super squishy and will be nice to wear come winter!

I’ve been moving along on the Gush socks. After figuring out how many extra rows I needed and knitting them where indicated, then starting Clue 2, I decided that I really didn’t like how they looked with the extra rows. I frogged back to where the design starts on the toe and added the additional rows in the toe before starting the design. Adding the extra rows where indicated just didn’t go with the rest of the design at all.

Gush Sock

I’m hoping to get Clue 2 done on both socks before the next clue comes out on Wednesday. I’ve already re-knit Clue 1 of the second sock, so as long as I don’t get too distracted by casting on High Seas tonight! 😉

Happy Friday! Today I have an FO to share. 😀 I was able to finish up my Stripey Socks yesterday! These will be fun and bright to wear once it gets cooler again.

PDY Stripey Socks

Pattern: 66 stitch toe-up sock with slip stitch heel (My Ravelry project page.)Started: March 16, 2011Completed: June 9, 2011Yarn: Perfect Day Yarns Self-Striping, colorway “She Woos Me”Needles: US 0 Knit Picks nickel circularNotes: Generic toe-up sock using Wendy D. Johnson’s slip stitch heel and my rounded toe. I love the fabric I get on US 0’s with this yarn. I may try to knit my next pair of Vesper self-striping socks with the same gauge. Just a bit tighter then what I’ve been getting on my stripey socks.

Last week, Sheri of The Loopy Ewe blogged about Camp Loopy. Just a few days before I read her post, I had been wishing I could go to summer camp this year, and this kind of camp is right up my alley!

The first challenge project to go along with the theme “Campfire Nights” is to knit a two color cape, shawl, or scarf. I decided to knit a pattern that has been in my queue for a while now: Clockwork. After some thought on what colors and yarn to use, I decided on MadelineTosh Pashmina in Dahlia and Oak.

MadelineTosh Pashmina

This weekend I’ll wind up the yarn, print out the pattern, and find the right needles so I’ll be ready to cast-on on June 15th!

Since I decided on no more sweaters for a while, I’ve been searching around for a shawl pattern to knit, preferably one that would look good out of one of the Wollmeise Lace colors I have. I haven’t seen anything that just called to me to knit it, so I just kept looking. Then, this past week, Kris mentioned to me on Twitter that we should do another knit-a-long (we knit Camber together via Twitter last year). After some discussion, we decided to knit High Seas. I thought this would be perfect for the Wollmeise Lace I have in Flaschenpost, which is a lovely blue-green color that reminds me of the ocean.

Wollmeise Lace in Flaschenpost

The fact that the shawl looks like waves, doesn’t hurt either! I love the ocean and frequently find myself missing it. We’ll be casting-on on Monday. I’ve already got the pattern printed, just need to wind that GIANT skein of yarn this weekend.

Have a good weekend everyone! I’ve got some new craft supplies that recently arrived and I’m looking forward to playing around with them this weekend. Hoping to have something to show you next week! 🙂